Juvenile Justice Research

Calhoun, G. B., Bartolomucci, C. L., McLean, B. A. (2005). Building connections: Relational Group work with female adolescent offenders. Women and Therapy, 28(2), 17-29.
Female juvenile offending is an issue that is often ignored. The specific needs and issues of girls in the juvenile justice system commonly go unheard while court dispositions and therapeutic interventions often criminalize what might be viewed as survival skills. This article proposes a relational group approach to treatment. Such an approach conceptualizes offending behaviors among female adolescents as the result of negative unhealthy relationship patterns. A relational group approach to treatment builds connections with other girls and women while addressing their concerns and problematic behaviors.

Carr, M. B., & Vandiver, T. A. (2001). Risk and protective factors among youth. Adolescence, 36(143), 409-426.
This study examined the risk and protective factors of youth offenders and their relation to recidivism. The sample consisted of 76 male and female juvenile probationers within a large metropolitan area. It was found that protective factors, specifically personal characteristics, familial conditions, and peer selection, differentiated non-repeat offenders and repeat offenders. The present body of findings supports the adaptive model of resiliency and reinforces the importance of enhancing protective factors in youth offenders as a means of deterring delinquent behavior.

Cusick, G. R., & Courtney M. E. (2007). Offending during late adolescence: How do youth aging out of care compare with their peers? Chapin Hall Center for Children.
This issue brief presents data on offending and justice system involvement during the early transition to adulthood in a sample of young people aging out of foster care and nationally representative samples of same-aged peers. In particular, two issues are addressed: 1) how criminal behavior among youth in out-of-home care compares to that of youth more generally during the early transition to adulthood and 2) whether offending declines during this time among foster youth. Data come from The Midwest Study of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth, which is a longitudinal study of youth placed in out-of-home care due to abuse and/or neglect across three Midwestern states. The issue brief compared self-reported offending and arrests among these youth to samples of youth from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health study. Accounting for racial differences between the samples, the report found that youth aging out of care had higher rates of offending across a range of behaviors from property crimes to serious violent crimes. Chapin Hall found fewer differences in offending between the samples at age 19, although foster youth were more likely to report damaging property, stealing something worth more than $50, participating in a group fight, and pulling a knife or gun on someone. In addition, a higher percentage of foster youth reported having histories of arrest. These differences were true for both males and females. Although offending by foster youth is generally higher than youth more generally, the report found significant declines in most criminal behaviors over time.

Deschenes, E. P., & Greenwood, P. W. (1998). Alternative placements for juvenile offenders: Results from the evaluation of the Nokomis Challenge Program. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 35(3), 267-294.
The Nokomis Challenge Program, an innovative correctional program for low- and medium-risk delinquents, was implemented by the Michigan Department of Social Services (DSS) in 1989. The program combines three months of residence and outdoor challenge programming with nine months of intensive community-based aftercare. It was designed as an alternative to residential placements that average 14-16 months. An evaluation of the Nokomis Program conducted using a quasi-experimental study of 192 juvenile offenders showed significant cost savings, compared to traditional residential placement, over a 24-month period, but few differences in outcomes. Youths in both groups made positive gains in social adjustment during residential programs, which disappeared by the end of the follow-up period. Despite community aftercare, Nokomis youths failed more quickly upon release to the community. The results suggest that to derive benefit from short-term alternative placements, the intensive aftercare component must be strengthened to help prevent youth from relapsing.

Ford, J., Chapman, J., Hawke, J., & Albert, D. (2007). Trauma Among Youth in the Juvenile Justice System: Critical Issues and New Directions. National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice. http://www.ncmhjj.com/pdfs/Trauma_and_Youth.pdf
This research brief examines youth in the juvenile justice system that have experienced trauma. The prevalence of youth exposed to trauma is believed to be higher than that of community samples of similarly aged youths. The report recommends that trauma screening and treatment be adopted by the juvenile justice system and provides summaries of varying screening and treatment options.

Granello, P. F., & Hanna, F. J. (2003). Incarcerated and court-involved adolescents: Counseling an at-risk population. Journal of Counseling & Development, 81, 11-18.
In this article, the authors provide the counselor wishing to work with incarcerated adolescents with background information relating to the current scope of the problem and the current state of the juvenile justice system in the United States. The authors also review the current research regarding juvenile delinquency and outline a series of clinical techniques. The authors close by providing a developmental framework for enhancing the understanding of and guiding treatment for this difficult population.

Harp, Caren, Kuykendall, Michael, Cunningham, Marcia, Ware, Teresa (2004). Juvenile Delinquency and Community Persecution: New Strategies for Old Problems. American Prosecutors Research Institute.
http://www.ndaa-apri.org/pdf/juvenile_delinquency_community_prosecution.pdf
his monograph provides a brief explanation of community prosecution, an overview of the potential interface between community prosecution and juvenile justice, a discussion of the legal and systemic issues that APRI uncovered during its site visits, a review of some common issues identified between community prosecution and juvenile justice, and a brief comparison of community prosecution to another emerging juvenile justice philosophy, balanced and restorative justice..

Killian, E., Brown, R., & Evans, W. (2002). What incarcerated youth say would help them succeed: Can Extension play a role? Journal of Extension, 40(4).
Although there are some notable exceptions, Extension professionals have not traditionally been involved with youth in the juvenile justice system. Nevertheless, because of the Extension system’s considerable resources, there is an increasing opportunity to provide educational programming that can help these youth succeed. When developing programs for youth, the important step of asking participants what they think provides critical but often over-looked information. In particular, youth in the juvenile justice system are rarely asked what they think would be effective approaches to helping them succeed once they are released from detention or complete the term of their parole. The purpose of the study reported here was to assess youth opinions of effective programming approaches for both inside and outside the detention system.

New and emerging research efforts. OJJDP.
Evaluation of the GIRLS Project (University of Georgia, Department of Counseling and Human Development). This study will provide a process and outcome evaluation of the GIRLS (Gaining Insight into Relationships for Lifelong Success) Project, an ongoing project that addresses the problems of female delinquency through the use of a relational approach to intervention. The first is a psycho educational counseling group that deals with relationships and focuses on the girl in relation to self, family, peers, and teachers. The second level of intervention includes court services workers involved in local juvenile justice systems and focuses on individual consultation, educational workshops, and local juvenile justice system policies and procedures.

Osher, T., & Hunt, P. (2002). Involving Families of Youth who are in Contact with the Juvenile Justice System. National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice. http://www.ncmhjj.com/pdfs/publications/Family.pdf
This research brief examines the benefits of family participation in all stages of the juvenile justice system and describes how families can be involved at different stages throughout a youth’s involvement with the system. Families must be given current and understandable explanations of the juvenile justice systems, particularly on how decisions are made and the structure of the system. The report ends by making recommendations to facilitate family participation and needed reforms to open the system to include families.

Phillips, S. & Gleeson, J. (2007). What we Know Now that we Didn’t Know Then about the Criminal Justice System’s Involvement in Families with whom Child Welfare Agencies have Contact: Findings from a Landmark National Study. Center for Social Policy and Research, Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago.
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a study funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is a landmark study of children who were subjects of reports of maltreatment. Information was collected on more than 5,000 children from 92 different communities in 36 states. While the NSCAW does not focus solely on children of incarcerated parents, it provides the most detailed and reliable national data on safety, permanency, and well-being of children that child welfare agencies come into contact with and contains seminal data about the criminal justice system’s involvement in these families.

Sanger, D., Maag, J., & Spiler, A. (2006). Communication and Behavioral Considerations in Planning Programs for Female Juvenile Delinquents. The Journal of Correctional Education. 57(2), 108-125.
The purposes of this article is to review the language, communication, and psycho-social characteristics of adolescent female delinquents, and to present recommendations for correctional educators incorporating instruction on pragmatics into social skills training (SST).

Sherman, F.T. (2005). Pathways to Juvenile Detention Reform 13: Detention Reform and Girls – Challenges and Solutions. The Annie. E. Casey Foundation. http://www.aecf.org/upload/PublicationFiles/jdai_pathways_girls.pdf
This report examines the complex personal and social backdrop for girls in the delinquency system and looks at how girls are tracked at various key points in the juvenile justice process. By mapping how girls end up in the system, this report provides recommendations for gender-responsive detention reform.  

Tate, D. C., Reppucci, N. D., Mulvey, E. P. (1995). Violent juvenile delinquents: Treatment effectiveness and implications for future action. American Psychologist, 50(9), 777-781.
Traditionally, the juvenile justice system has emphasized the goals of treatment and rehabilitation of young offenders, while protecting them from punishment, retribution and stigmatization. Violent juvenile offenders have posed a challenge to this rehabilitative ideal because of mounting public pressure to ensure societal protection. Juveniles who are perceived as dangerous or persistent in their criminal activity are increasingly transferred to the adult criminal justice system, where they may receive much harsher consequences. Whether violent delinquents can be successfully treated is a key point in the debate regarding the wisdom of this trend in juvenile justice. This article considers the available research to address the policy question of how society should reasonably invest in the treatment of violent juvenile offenders.

Veysey, B.M. (2003). Adolescent Girls with Mental Health Disorders Involved with the Juvenile Justice System. National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice.
http://www.ncmhjj.com/pdfs/Adol_girls.pdf
This report examines the rapidly growing female population involved with the juvenile justice system, and the available research on the mental health needs of that population. Girls are the fastest growing segment of the juvenile justice system, and while the majority of the offenses committed by girls are not violent in nature, the arrest rate for violent crime has also increased considerably. Of equal concern is the fact that mental health disorders among girls in the justice system has been documented at rates exceeding 80%, and that large numbers of these girls also have a co-occurring substance abuse problem. The report recommends that collaboration between justice and behavioral health agencies must be developed to provide comprehensive screening, assessment, and treatment services to justice-involved girls.